China's highest ranking female politician will oversee the signing of a new joint venture between Cardiff University and a top ten Chinese university today.

Vice Premier of the People’s Republic of China, Liu Yandong, will mark a UK first when she unveils a plaque in Cardiff today symbolising the launch of a new college jointly led by Cardiff University and Beijing Normal University.

Joint venture

Students of the new Cardiff-Beijing Chinese Studies Joint College will follow a collaboratively developed curriculum in Chinese Language and Cultural Studies leading to a dual undergraduate award by both universities.

The first and last years of the four-year degree programme will be taught in Cardiff with the intervening years being taught in Beijing. Students of the new degree will be required to undertake a work placement or internship in China to increase their employability after graduation.

Graduates of the college will develop Chinese language skills and learn cultural codes from their counterpart country, with a view to increasing commercial and cultural links between China and Wales.

The new college will mirror existing joint colleges between UK and Chinese universities which are hosted in China teaching cohorts of Chinese students. What marks out the new college is that the degree will be delivered both in the UK and China to a mix of students from both countries.

The launch is supported by the Chinese Ministry of Education and is regarded as a key driver behind the Ministry’s ambitions to internationalise its higher education system and develop better cultural understanding between the UK and China.

Also backed by the Ministry is the establishment of a new Joint Institute of Medicine and Life Science; an agreement between Cardiff University and Capital Medical University, signed today, which sets out investment in a new programme of collaborative research worth £5.2m – with £2.6m invested by both parties - over a five-year period.

A new scholarship agreement will also be signed today, which covers the development of an Executive Education Programme by Cardiff University’s Business School to deliver a series of three-month programmes in public administration to senior university administration staff.

Vice-chancellor's view

Vice-chancellor of Cardiff University Colin Riordan

Cardiff University vice-chancellor Professor Colin Riordan said: “The establishment of the new college is an exciting step in the University’s drive to cultivate an increasingly international student experience, and will in years to come contribute greatly to bolstering cultural and business links between Wales and China.”

First Minister

First Minister Carwyn Jones

First Minister Carwyn Jones said: “Strengthening links with China, one of the world’s most powerful economies, has been a long-standing aim of the Welsh Government and this visit by Vice Premier Liu comes as a result of our engagement with the Chinese Government over many years.

“I warmly welcome the Vice Premier to Wales and I look forward to discussing Wales’s pro-business approach and the increasingly-strong economic ties between our countries, as well as the important cultural and educational relations between us.”